Mark Foley: Sea turtle, human safety shouldn't be opposing ideas

May 27, 2013|By Mark Foley, By Mark Foley

I write this, with a professional point of view since I am in the field of environmental protection. I come, however, more so as a concerned citizen of Ft. Lauderdale first and foremost in response to the recent article in the Sun Sentinel entitled, "Fort Lauderdale has dim view of beach lighting restrictions" written by Larry Barszewski on May 8.

As an advocate for both wildlife and human safety I must express my great disappointment at the short-sightedness and angle of the article, which pins those who love sea turtle hatchlings against those who are concerned about human safety.

I find it interesting that, when faced with a conundrum like "turtle safety" versus "human safety," the abstract solution is "either / or." We should, of course, take human safety very seriously. But could it be that there is no conundrum between turtle safety and human safety?

I attest that the case made has been misleading to the public and severely damaging to the advocacy of an endangered species that already faces an uphill battle.

Take this for example; FWC approved lighting has been tested addresses safety for human pedestrians on trafficked roadways while also dimming and changing the frequency of lighting (amber and red) for the sea turtle hatchlings' safety. These animals, which are federally and state threatened and endangered animals, should not be forced to disorient onto A1A along Ft. Lauderdale beach specifically because a few residents refuse to comply to senior code enforcement in the City of Ft. Lauderdale. I will add that Code Enforcement has been very clear and thorough by offering tangible lighting packets to these city residents. They have only been told to comply with the law and retrofit the lighting in the coastal homes they chose to buy.

In my years working with wildlife I have witnessed thousands of sea turtle hatchling deaths due to the careless oversight of city officials, law enforcement and local residents. To give credence to any thought that we should become more lax in our efforts to resist their extinction is insanity.

Now, environmentalists are being put into a box, dismissed, and labeled as "radicals." The public is told it is best ".. to keep our distance from the sources of this environmental lobby that embraces the love of baby turtles," (Fred Carlson CBA) [paraphrased] over "..the lives of humans."

No, environmentalists are more than the "sources of the environmental lobby," who are being framed by Mr. Carlson as "inhumane." They are citizens such as concerned home owners, shop owners, doctors, lawyers, construction workers, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters who have offered thousands of free volunteer hours to the city. These good citizens are finally calling out an obvious deleterious situation that had gone on for decades without one so-called lobbyist making any fuss about it. This has finally made the "status quo" of crushed baby sea turtles by the thousands each and every summer along Broward County beaches an unacceptable situation.

Those residents who have complained about darker neighborhoods and safety have cited their naivety when it comes to the protected status of wildlife as well as already-approved lighting systems directed to us by law that address both safety and environmental stewardship.

So here we are again, courting the practice of chipping away, again and again, at our already-fragmented environments and rationalizing our actions against imperiled species. This is the same story, and yet another creature, among so many that I am personally familiar with, that is moving headstrong toward extinction from this planet because our pleasures, or our conveniences, crush even the most basic means of survival of others.

Mark Foley is Park Services Specialist, Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, Fort Lauderdale. The views expressed are his own and not attributed to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection of the Florida Park Service.